Canadian, Dominique Rollin wins a race that felt like the 6th period of an overtime Stanley Cup Game.

San Luis Obispo, CA - The Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team won a monster victory in California today as Dominique Rollin let the world know “The Horse” will be reckoned with for years to come. If he were a race horse, they would be calling him a mudder! The boys were in their saddles for just under seven hours today with horrendous conditions that brought many of the world’s finest riders to their knees including Toyota-United’s own Ivan Dominguez who abandoned the race today during a cold, windy, blustery, and excruciatingly painful 135 mile ride from Monterey to San Luis Obispo. Combined with a six-mile ceremonial, non-timed parade start in Seaside, the riders pedaled for nearly 7 1/2 hours which is longer than many mountain stages of the Tour de France. “With about 25 miles left, I looked around, and I knew I was one of the strongest guys,” said Rollin, who began the stage in 62nd place overall, trailing by nearly 25 minutes. “With about six miles left, I had a 40-second lead. I couldn’t help it; I had a smile on my face.” Rollin, pulled away from his breakaway companions with 20 kilometers to go and held off some of the best riders in the world. With George Hincapie and another ProTour rider cutting his lead to 10 seconds with just 2 miles to go, Rollin put his head down and stomped on the pedals to bring home the victory for his Toyota-United Team and the biggest win of his young career. Hincapie commented that a domestic rider like Rollin has extra motivation to win in a race like this and that he is impressed to see some of the domestic teams racing. “This is the biggest race in the U.S. and these guys here have every thing in the world to prove,” he said. “I remember when I was young and went into races like this, I did everything I could because it’s the one shot you’ve got to make it to the next level. I think these guys are doing a great job.”
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The BMC Racing team brought its A-game and hoped for big results for the Amgen Tour of California.

The squad announced their presence loudly in the first stage with the Jackson Stewart solo breakaway delivering the first of the King of the Mountains and the Most Aggressive jersey to the team. The story continued in stage 2, where the team protected Jackson’s KOM classification, and also won the Most Aggressive award again through the solo breakaway of Scott Nydam.

In the third stage, Scott Nydam again went on the attack early resulting in successfully defending the KOM jersey and Alex Moos finished ninth in the main chase group behind the two stage leaders.

The team was hit with bad luck during stage 5, as Jackson Stewart unexpectedly abandoned the race due to hypothermia after gobbling up all the KOM points on the day. The KOM jersey reverted to his team mate Nydam and after five stages in the bad, Alexander Moos in very good position in the General Classification at 29 seconds from the leader.

BMC has thus far escaped catching the highly contagious stomach bug which has decimated several other teams in the race. I caught up with some of the BMC riders before the start of the to-be miserable stage 5 to get their thoughts.

Tony Cruz


About the team plan for the rest of the week
Now we have a GC contender with Alex so we have to pay attention to where he’s at all times to make sure he’s always in contention, still try and go for the stage, that would be good for the team, and protect the KOM jersey. It’s big. I think we can do Alex and KOM, we’ll focus on the third if we can.

About attempting another break in the stage
I don’t know, we’ll see, going to let the other teams do some stuff and try and work with them, no more solo stuff.

About his form
Not too bad. Believe me, I was tired (after stage 4), that was a hard stage, to be expected.
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Photo by Ken Conley

SAN LUIS OBISPO, CA – Six-time Canadian National Road Champion Dominique Rollin (CAN) of the Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team made history today as he powered away to an impressive solo victory in Stage 4 of the 2008 Amgen Tour of California. Weather hammered the peloton for nearly seven hours as the stage took riders down the California coast from Seaside to San Luis Obispo on an impressive and challenging course. Defending champion Levi Leipheimer (USA) of Astana was able to retain the overall lead and will wear the Amgen Leader Jersey going into the individual time trial in Solvang tomorrow.

“Last time I raced in such tough weather, I won the stage,” said Rollin, referring to a stormy day in Quebec’s 2005 Tour de Beauce. “The worse it is, the better I am. When the wind came, I said keep it coming.”

Thursday morning brought cold rain to the longest stage of the eight-day Amgen Tour of California. At 135 miles, the picturesque stage along Highway 1 would prove to be a long, difficult trek masked by clouds, drizzle and a steady 30-mph headwind. But in cycling, such problems provide opportunities.

At the start of the race, strong man Henk Vogels (AUS) of the Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team launched an attack, which preempted several counterattacks. However, it would be Rollin who blasted up the road with Jackson Stewart (USA) of Team BMC to take the lead. Others soon joined the breakaway, including George Hincapie (USA) of High Road, Iker Camano (ESP) of Saunier Duval-Scott, Bryce Meade (USA) of the Jelly Belly Cycling Team and Edward King (USA) of BISSELL Pro Cycling. Eventually, the break would grow to include 11 riders, and their gap on the field grew to 4:35.
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After the longest stage in Tour of California history, it came down to a sole breakaway from Toyota United standout Dominique Rollin to take the victory.

We took a look at Dominique Rollin’s Fuji SL1 here
We talked to Dominique Rollin before the season here

Full results available after the click.

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Photos by Stephanie Gutowski

Photo by Ken Conley

San Luis Obispo, CA - High peaks and cold troughs

When the weather forecast called for rain, probably few believed that the weather would play such a painfully decisive roll in today’s stage. But the ride from Seaside to San Luis Obispo which had been touted as 135 miles (217 km) of the prettiest scenery in the United States, turned into a day of wet, cold and windy misery that few racers will forget quickly.

If the fact that stomach flu is flying through the peloton and race caravan is not unsettling enough, the riders today had to spend seven hours doing their best just to survive the day. Jackson Stewart again figured among the racers who animated the early part of the stage. He, along with team mate Danilo Wyss found their way into what turned into the break of the day. Jackson then proceeded to win all top mountain points on each of the three rated climbs. The only snag was that he realized a little late that his body had reached the point where it was no longer able to maintain a healthy temperature.

Jackson, it may seem too obvious a question, but how do you feel now?
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Overall Leaders (General Classification)
First Place - Levi Leipheimer (USA), Astana
Second Place - Fabian Cancellara (SUI), Team CSC
Third Overall - Robert Gesink (NED), Rabobank

Stage 4 Winners
First Place -Dominique Rollin (CAN), Toyota-United
Second Place - George Hincapie (USA), High Road
Third Place - Iker Camano Ortuzar (ESP), Saunier Duval-Scott

ROUTE DETAILS
Day: Thursday, Feb 21
Start: Seaside
Finish: San Luis Obispo
Start Time: 10:00 AM
Miles: 135.3
End ETA: 3:26-4:25 PM

There is no question that the star of stage 4 is the gorgeous golden state of California itself. After a short parade lap in Seaside, the peloton will head south on picturesque Highway 1 on a coastline voyage to San Luis Obispo. The riders will remember this stage for more than just the breathtaking vistas of the opulent Pacific Ocean, grand Big Sur, dense redwood forests and the ornate Hearst Castle. At 135 miles, the longest stage of the Amgen Tour of California, sponsored by Olevia, repeatedly taunts and teases the riders with hilly, technical terrain including three King of the Mountains summits. The stage moves inland for the finish at the intersection of Osos and Monterey Streets, which is certain to ignite the usually tranquil “SLO.”

(stage description courtesy of the official Amgen Tour of California website: http://www.amgentourofcalifornia.com/ )